Will we live a second 2004 or?

[Vampiregenesis]

How powerful will a classic release be at this point? will it be able to dominate the scene of mmo just like it did back on 2004 or will it be far weaker? it's kinda strange to be 14 years ahead and still lay our hopes on vanilla.

[Deleted]

Classic will fail.

[Daedius]

MMORPGs as a genre is pretty much dying out... so I really doubt MMORPG players within themselves will revive it.

With regards to Classic, after the initial rush of people just trying it out... it'll quickly tether out to the few.

[Vaelorian]

I am one that wants Classic bad. But obviously it will def. not have the same impact as it once did. Classic will be for the ones that loved it for what it was, warts and all.

[Mifuyne]

I assume it will keep some people playing and enjoying Classic.
Other than that it will have no impact whatsoever.

[Sethus]

Classic will have over 50 million subs, great success.

[Unholyground]

It depends on one simple thing, if it is included with your regular sub fee or not.

If not, it will die. If so it will be fine.

[jazen]

Once the rose colored glasses of nostalgia fall off, the initial boost from classic server wow will wear off quickly.

[XDurionX]

Classic will have over 50 million subs, great success.

You mispelled "billion", we will make contact to other species just because they want to play vanilla.

[Lochton]

How powerful will a classic release be at this point? will it be able to dominate the scene of mmo just like it did back on 2004 or will it be far weaker? it's kinda strange to be 14 years ahead and still lay our hopes on vanilla.

Sorry, it won't dominate. As it seems and feels, it'll appear as how people want classic - which means it won't have a lot of things that people expect in the current day MMO's. It won't be a dominator nor the icebreaker for Blizzard. It'll be what it is, a museum.

[Mifuyne]

Imagine Apple releasing the first iPhone again without anything changed.
There will always be people gobbling it up and praying prime money for it.

You mispelled "billion", we will make contact to other species just because they want to play vanilla.

You didn't know? Classic is THE galactic communication system.

[Lochton]

Classic will have over 50 million subs, great success.

I believe we need a 'Trump-huge' statement. "It's gonna be huuuuge, I tell ya".

[Sethus]

You mispelled "billion", we will make contact to other species just because they want to play vanilla.

Sorry I was making a conservative estimation.

[Lochton]

Imagine Apple releasing the first iPhone again without anything changed.

Well, it would be the most expensive paperweight and people would still buy it, because it is Apple.

[glowpipe]

Never gonna happen. The mmo scene is dead and the classic-LIKE servers we gonna get aint gonna be nothing like the original vanilla patches. its gonna be a streamlined experience with all bugs and glithces that made vanilla into what it was, its gonna be ironed out.

This is proven by the fact that the devs have been discussing shit like how many players will ubrs have. 10 or 5 man. When it should have been 15 man, if they just gave us an old patch. We gonna get a watered down legion, probably with the current talents and post cataclysm world.

[Mifuyne]

Well, it would be the most expensive paperweight and people would still buy it, because it is Apple.

And the same will happen with Classic.
Because it doesn't really matter if it was actually good or bad.

What matters is what people felt back then while playing it.
This feeling is what drives pro vanilla'ers.

[Lochton]

And the same will happen with Classic.
Because it doesn't really matter if it was actually good or bad.

What matters is what people felt back then while playing it.
This feeling is what drives pro vanilla'ers.

Why do you think I've been calling it a museum? It has no prospering future, just visit and relax.

[Aggrophobic]

How powerful will a classic release be at this point? will it be able to dominate the scene of mmo just like it did back on 2004 or will it be far weaker? it's kinda strange to be 14 years ahead and still lay our hopes on vanilla.

No, of course not. You will have the same people that play retail now, playing classic. The vast majority will play a few hours and realize it's not that intresting. It'll end up with small amount of dedicated players, just enough to keep the servers going, if even that.

[Mifuyne]

Why do you think I've been calling it a museum? It has no prospering future, just visit and relax.

I like it, Museum seems like the perfect word for it.

[Snookiwooki]

How powerful will a classic release be at this point? will it be able to dominate the scene of mmo just like it did back on 2004 or will it be far weaker? it's kinda strange to be 14 years ahead and still lay our hopes on vanilla.

My feeling is that it will be popular at release, a month later half will be bored and stop playing actively, shortly after 3 months you will be left with 25% of the initial players who will play regularly. It will have a following but it will be in the 10s of thousands not 100s as many are quoting. If its free to play for current subs of retail "numbers" will be higher but activity will be very low from most of them.

It's not nostalgia wearing off that will cause the player numbers to drop, probably most of the people who didn't play originally will just think things are clunky, outdated and will prefer retail and give up fairly quickly.